Book contents
- Global Resources and the Environment
- Reviews
- Global Resources and the Environment
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Figure Credits
- Part IIntroduction, Dynamic Systems, and Change
- 1Introduction
- 2A Perspective on Dynamic Systems
- 3Change, Sustainability, and Related Concepts
- Part IIPeople
- Part IIIClimates
- Part IVLandforms
- Part VBiodiversity
- Part VIWater
- Part VIIAgriculture
- Part VIIIEnergy
- Part IXMinerals
- Part XForests
- Part XIPerspective
- Book part
- Index
- Plate Section
- References
2 - A Perspective on Dynamic Systems
from Part I - Introduction, Dynamic Systems, and Change
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2018
Book contents
- Global Resources and the Environment
- Reviews
- Global Resources and the Environment
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Figure Credits
- Part IIntroduction, Dynamic Systems, and Change
- 1Introduction
- 2A Perspective on Dynamic Systems
- 3Change, Sustainability, and Related Concepts
- Part IIPeople
- Part IIIClimates
- Part IVLandforms
- Part VBiodiversity
- Part VIWater
- Part VIIAgriculture
- Part VIIIEnergy
- Part IXMinerals
- Part XForests
- Part XIPerspective
- Book part
- Index
- Plate Section
- References
Summary
Socio-environmental systems and their subsystems will be viewed as “complex systems” lying between “organized complexity” and “disorganized complexity.” Studies of these systems in recent decades have developed under the label “complexity science.” Complex systems involve a large number of variables with complicated interactions and feedback loops. They typically display some degree of self-organization—pattern formation without central control. They exhibit behaviors that cannot be explained through studying the subcomponents. A conceptual scheme describing the dynamics and the evolution of such systems is presented. Order and some degree of disorder can conflict and keep a system vibrant. At times, a system can decline or disappear. Building blocks can then form a new system that can be quite different from the former one. Models are simplified depictions of reality as perceived by the people constructing them. They allow one to understand and somewhat predict the behaviors of the modeled system. Two structural organizations are hierarchies and networks.
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- Global Resources and the Environment , pp. 12 - 21Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2018
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